Retirements, resignations leave MPS with evolving staff

Retired teacher Mark Horowitz, who taught for 35 years, teaches how to work a math problem at Golda Meir Elementary School as he volunteers in first-year teacher Jill Opie’s classroom in Milwaukee. Opie was Horowitz’s student teacher two years ago. Credit: Kristyna Wentz-Graff

As the four-year contract between Milwaukee Public Schools and the teachers union expired this summer, educators retired at double the pace of 2012, pushing the two-year retirement total to more than 600 teachers, new data shows.

Baby boomer teachers retiring and leaving the profession is a national trend, but the recent spike in the state's largest district appears to be driven by the end of the teachers contract and the retirement benefits it guaranteed — such as a generous payout for unused sick days — to those who qualified.

Two years worth of retirement and resignation data requested from MPS and analyzed by the Journal Sentinel also shows that since June 2011, the number of teachers resigning from the district — 595 — nearly matched the number of teacher retirements: 671.

Taken together, retirements and resignations have caused a sudden shift to a younger and less experienced staff in the district. That shift raises concerns as well as hopes for student achievement: While research shows that frequent teacher turnover generally diminishes achievement, the district is positioning itself to capitalize on the fresh injection of energy from new and predominantly younger educators.

The Journal Sentinel's analysis revealed:

■ In a district with about 9,300 full-time positions, more than 2,300 MPS employees — teachers and all other staff positions combined — have retired or resigned since June 2011. That's essentially one-quarter of the district staff.

■ During the first six months of 2013, staffers retired at almost double the rate they did in 2012. One in three staff members who gave a reason for their retirement or resignation listed Act 10, Gov. Scott Walker or the end of the teachers' contract.

■ Since June 2011, a total of 1,266 MPS teachers retired or resigned, with an average 17 years of experience each.

■ Individual schools have been unevenly affected by retirements and resignations. Community High School, a small charter school, saw about 25% of its teaching staff change 2013, mostly through resignations. Humboldt Park Elementary saw about 10% of its teachers change in the same time period, all through retirements. The retirees were some of the most experienced in the district — four people with an average 30 years of experience each.

■ Since June 2011, Rufus King International School — which included the high school as well as middle school grades that were added in 2010-'11 — had 18 teachers retire and 22 teachers resign, the greatest net departure of teachers from any school during that time.

■ Since June 2011, Bay View High School — which also included middle school grades during the time period analyzed — had the largest number of teacher retirements: 21.

District expected turnover

MPS spokesman Tony Tagliavia said that the district had expected a higher than normal three-year period for retirements, and that it's no surprise that larger numbers of retirements came from schools with more staff and students.

He said MPS recruited to fill the openings with highly qualified staff, including staff with experience.

Richard M. Ingersoll, a professor of education at the University of Pennsylvania, said the departures of baby boomer teachers in Milwaukee fits a national profile.

"Some people are going to say this is good: We're paying a lot of these new teachers less money, and they're young, they've got fresh energy and they're enthusiastic."

On the other hand, Ingersoll said, turnover is not cost-free.

"If there's any kind of new teacher induction or mentoring programs, those cost money. And at schools where nobody has more than five years of experience, especially in urban areas, it can be like the green leading the green," he added.

A national study conducted by Ingersoll suggests that over the past 20 years, fewer teachers are staying with the profession for the long-term. He analyzed federal data to find that about 28% of teachers in schools in 2007-'08 had five or fewer years of experience, up from 17% of teachers nationwide with that level of experience in 1987-'88.

At Hamilton High School in Milwaukee, teacher Linda Kieper retired this year along with a dozen teachers at her school.

Kieper, 63, had taught for 19 years and said the expiration of the teachers contract was her primary motivator for leaving.

The state's Act 10 legislation limiting collective bargaining and requiring most public employees to pay more for their benefits was signed by Walker in 2011, but it didn't go into effect for MPS teachers until the teachers contract expired at the end of June this year.

Under the contract, retiring teachers could get a payout of up to 40 days of unused sick leave. For some veteran teachers or principals, that could translate to compensation worth up to $20,000.

Under the employee handbook in the era of Act 10, the Milwaukee School Board reduced the sick leave payout from a maximum of 40 days to 10 days, and raised the minimum age, years of service and accumulated sick-leave requirement necessary to qualify for district-paid retiree health insurance.

"And that's not guaranteed," Kieper said. "Two months from now or a two years from now, they could change the terms."

Beyond the contract, Kieper said she felt the atmosphere for learning had deteriorated in recent years at Hamilton, and she wasn't having fun anymore.

New generation

The departures are opening doors for a new generation of teachers.

Vincent Gaa, a first-year English teacher at Pulaski High School, said he's exhilarated by his job. The 23-year-old native of Gurnee, Ill., graduated from Marquette University and was a student teacher at Pulaski before the wave of retirements created an opening that allowed him to make a bid for the position.

"I'm working long hours, but I love what I do and it's really rewarding," Gaa said after his fifth day leading classes.

Gaa is also teaching a science fiction elective where he intends to expose students to more than classics such as "1984" and "Brave New World." He plans to highlight comics, music and other visual arts that drive the science fiction genre.

"I made a Star Wars reference in one of my classes and the students didn't know what I was talking about," Gaa said. "I want them to understand that."

Gaa said he intends to be a career teacher in MPS.

Jodi Korol thought she wanted that, too.

Instead, the 32-year-old resigned from the district after one year of teaching last year.

Korol, a special education teacher, had been working for private schools that contract with MPS to work with high-risk students. She had tried for years to get a full-time MPS teaching position, namely for better benefits and job security.

She landed a job at MorseMarshall middle and high school, but with a new principal and assistant principal last year, the transition was bumpy, she said.

She might have stayed for the benefits, but Korol said she was joining the district at the same time those perks were becoming less generous and less certain.

"My motives in looking for a job are definitely different now because the playing field is more level," said Korol, who is back at a private school contracting with MPS this year. "Now I'm looking more for school atmosphere and collaborative staff rather than what their retirement plan and benefits look like."

Jason O'Brien, lead teacher at Community High School, said resignations were driven by other reasons in his building. One teacher changed professions because her heart wasn't in teaching; another landed a highly coveted English teacher position in the Kohler School District.

To help support its new staff and teachers, MPS is scaling up programs such as its New Educator Institute.

It's also aiming to rehire up to 30 retired teachers to assist with mentoring efforts.

The district is also working with partners such as Teach For America, City Year, the Greater Milwaukee Committee and Newaukee, a young professionals group, to celebrate and encourage new employees.

Superintendent Gregory Thornton said earlier this year that MPS needs to create an environment where employees want to work, live, learn, play and grow.

"When you have this much talent leaving the system," Thornton added, "it can be catastrophic or transformational."